Vanilla Naked Cake

Instructions

Cake Instructions:
Line two 9” cake straight sided cake pans with a circle of parchment paper, coat sides of pans and parchment with non stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350℉.


In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter at medium speed until it’s no longer lumpy, add sugar and beat until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time on low speed until incorporated.


Whisk or sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add one third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mix at low speed until just combined, add half of the milk, mix until combined. Continue alternating dry ingredients and milk until combined, ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the vanilla bean paste and almond extract.
Use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold a scoop of the egg whites into the cake batter until just combined. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Divide evenly between the pans, bake on middle rack for 26-30 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Remove cakes and cool on the countertop for 10 minutes, cover tightly with plastic wrap and cool for another 15 minutes to prevent evaporation (this will keep your cake moist). Keep covered and cool completely in the refrigerator (about 1 hour), or remove the plastic wrap and cool completely at room temperature (2+ hours).

Buttercream Frosting:
In a large bowl, or using a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in the vanilla bean paste and 1 cup powdered sugar, beat on lowest speed until just combined. Continue adding powdered sugar and splashes of heavy cream and mixing on low until desired consistency and sweetness is reached. If you need it thicker, add a bit of powdered sugar. If you need it thinner, add a splash of cream. The frosting should be thick enough to hold it’s shape and support the cake. Place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.

Sugared Berries:
Mix meringue powder with water in a small bowl. If using an egg white, do not add water. Use a pastry brush to dab a bit of the meringue mixture onto the berries, let excess drip off, roll in sugar and place on a cooling rack until dry, about 15 minutes.

Cake Assembly:

Line serving platter with 4 rectangles of parchment paper to keep it clean during decorating. Level the bottom cake layer with a large serrated knife to remove the “dome” and give the second layer a flat surface to rest on. Pipe a ¼” thick layer of frosting onto the cake, smooth with offset spatula. Pipe or dot a ½” well around the outer edge of the bottom layer. If you’d like a thicker layer of berries, pipe the well a bit higher. Place berries in the well you’ve created. Save unused berries for serving. You can now top berries with more buttercream in a spiral shape, or just place the second layer on and press lightly to seal everything in.


Pipe a ½” thick spiral of frosting on the top layer of the cake, smooth with offset spatula. Pipe a few dabs of frosting around the outside of the cake, adding more frosting to the center to be sure the two cake layers are flush, if you look straight on at the cake and it appears hourglass shape, you need to pipe more frosting in the center to fill this gap. Gently, with very light pressure, smooth the buttercream around the cake with a bench scraper. Lightly smooth the cake, removing excess frosting from the bench scraper, until the layers are revealed and the cake has straight and flush sides.

Decorate with sugared (or fresh) berries, using dots of frosting to hold berries in place. Remove parchment paper pieces and discard. Serve with any leftover berries.